WOODY PLANT SPECIES COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE AND REGENERATION STATUS OF RAMA KIDANEMHRET MONASTERY  FOREST, NORTH WOLLO, ETHIOPIA

Mulaw, Eshetu

dc.contributor.author	Mulaw, Eshetu
dc.date.accessioned	2020-12-15T12:16:09Z
dc.date.available	2020-12-15T12:16:09Z
dc.date.issued	2020-12-15
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/11735
dc.description.abstract	In Ethiopia at the moment, there is a growing realization of the severity of resource degradation. Although several factors drive natural forest destruction in Ethiopia, agricultural land expansion triggered by increasing human population is probably the dominant force. This study was conducted on Rama Kidanemihret Monastery forest in Raya Kobo Woreda, North Wollo Zone, Amhara National Regional State, Northeastern Ethiopia. The objective of the study was to investigate woody plant species composition, structure and regeneration status of the forest. A preliminary survey was done to determine sampling method and identify sampling site of the forest. Systematic sampling method was used to collect vegetation data from 70 sample plots with size of 20 m x 20 m for adult woody species and five 2 m x 2 m subplots were established in each main plot to collect data for seedlings, saplings and shrubs. 7 transect lines oriented to west to east directions were laid down across the forest. The sample plots were laid at every 100 m interval along transects at 200 m apart. The composition and population structure data for woody species (DBH > 2 cm and height > 2 m), saplings (DBH < 2cm and 1 – 2 m height) and all seedlings (height < 1 m) and their regeneration count were recorded in each plot. A total of 69 woody plant species belonging to 57 genera and 43 families were identified of which 27 species (39.1%) were trees, 10 species (14.4%) were tree/shrubs, 21 species (30.4%) were shrubs, 8 species (11.5%) were climbers and 3 species (4.3%) were herbs. From all of the families, species rich families Euphorbiaceae were the most dominant woody plant species 5 (7.58 %) species followed by Fabaceae and Sapindaceae 4 (6.1%) species each. Woody species densities for mature, sapling and seedling individuals were 945 stems/ha, 1082.8 stems/ha and 1227.8 stems/ha respectively. The total basal area of the forest was 59.3m 2 ha -1 . The overall Shannon diversity and evenness of woody species was 2.34 and 0.9 respectively indicating that the diversity of woody species in the forest is medium and evenness of woody species in the forest is relatively high. The woody plant species that have the highest importance value index (IVI) were Juniperus procera (71.61) followed by Podocarpus falcatus (54.65) while Dovyalis abyssinica, Ziziphus mucronata, Euphorbia abyssinica, Mangifera indica were the lowest IVI that should be given conservation priority. Finally, this study indicated that population structure of most woody plant species in the forest is in a good state of regeneration.	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.subject	biology	en_US
dc.title	WOODY PLANT SPECIES COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE AND REGENERATION STATUS OF RAMA KIDANEMHRET MONASTERY FOREST, NORTH WOLLO, ETHIOPIA	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US